1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper sheet storing apparatus applied as, for example, a banknote storage safe in an automatic teller machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,639, e.g., there is known a circulation type banknote storage safe of a so-called first-in last-out type, in which banknotes received in the safe upon deposit are used as banknotes for dispensing upon withdrawal.
The paper storage safe includes a main body for storing banknotes and a banknote pressing plate. Banknotes loaded in the main body from the upper portion thereof are stacked one on another on the pressing plate, and as the number of stored banknotes increases, the pressing plate is accordingly moved downward. Upon withdrawal, the banknotes are pressed by the pressing plate against feed rollers provided in the upper portion of the main body, and separated and unloaded one by one by the feed rollers.
In the banknote storage safe having a structure in which banknotes are stacked on the banknote pressing plate, it is possible to detect the fullness state of the storage safe by checking the position of the banknote pressing plate depending on detection signal from a full detection sensor. More specifically, when the sensor detects that the banknote pressing plate has been moved down to the bottom of the main body, the sensor identifies the storage safe as being full.
Recently, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,159, e.g., there is proposed a first-in last-out type banknote storage safe capable of receiving and dispensing banknotes at the same time, in which banknotes are loaded into the safe from the upper portion one by one and stacked therein, and the stacked banknotes are taken out from the lower portion of the safe. However, in the storage safe of this type, the fullness state of the storage safe cannot be detected by the above-described method.
More specifically, the storage safe of this type includes ascendable/descendable shutter and pressing board which are arranged adjacent to each other in the up-and-down direction in the main body. With this structure, banknotes loaded in the safe from the top portion is placed on the upper surface of the shutter, and banknotes for dispensing are set on the lower surface side of the pressing board, and dispensed from the bottom portion of the safe. Thus, banknotes are present on both the upper side of the shutter and lower side of the pressing board, at the same time.
Therefore, it is not possible to identify the fullness state of the banknote storage safe simply by detecting the position of each of the shutter and the pressing board.